Tuesday, 31 December 2013

There has been a bit less crochet here than there was in 2012, but looking back at it all gathered together for this post, there is more than I had thought. I hope you enjoy this celebration of colourful crochet.

Back in December last year I made an owl for my sister in law. It's become a bit of a tradition to crochet a decoration for her Christmas tree and I was particularly pleased with how this one turned out.........

They were easy and fun to do and soon I had made quite a few. In January I got round to making a tutorial to share with you lovelies and I was amazed how popular it was . It makes me smile to think there are now many, many of these cute chaps right across the globe...made by you lovelies......Isn't blogland wonderful.........

The temperatures last January were much colder than we are experiencing right now and my next make was an attempt to prevent painfully cold hands. I used the circles from the centre of my owl pattern and sewed two together with a little bag of baking beans inside...then warmed them on a hot radiator..........

In February I made a padded heart, again utilising the same circle, with a couple of shaping rounds added......

Heck, in March I was using that same circle again! this time to make mini Easter birds........

Then there was a bit of a crochet break, while drawing gripped me.
It couldn't last and of course it was the lovely Lucy who inspired me to pick up my hook again.
Making bunting for Yarndale was great fun and I couldn't resist adding a cute bunny to one of my triangles.....

Once I had got back into the rhythm I wanted to make something else.

In May I started a blanket of seven round grannies......

I really loved playing with so much colour.........

This was the progress by June..........

Then suddenly the weather got really hot and playing with yarn didn't seem very appealing, so I made a skirt.....

Sorry, I know this isn't crochet, but I wanted to record it as a make for this year.

By August we were at the seaside and crochet is a great holiday project. In Cornwall I added a row or two to my Seaside patches blanket, which I had begun in 2012............

I also took it to Norfolk , but I ended up using the yarn to create "Sherri the Seagull" .......

At the end of August I felt inspired by the bees visiting my garden to make a crochet version.
I didn't get round to blogging about him at the time..........

But I was pretty pleased with how he turned out....sorry I didn't write down the pattern, but there are loads of free bee patterns out there if you fancy making something similar. How about THIS one, or THIS ?
I was particularly pleased with his heart shaped wings.......I used THIS pattern

but I do think he needed smaller eyes.

In September I made a Daffodil from THIS book to hopefully help me meet up with some of you lovelies at Yarndale.....and it worked :0)..........

I met so many lovely bloggers there , and sadly missed a few more I would have liked to have chatted with..... Hopefully next year lovelies.

I was thrilled when Lucy pointed out my Bunny triangle on display right below her gorgeous May Rose wreath...........

It was so busy on the Saturday when I visited that I was pleased to sit outside on the grass and do a bit of quiet crochet , like so many others were doing. The atmosphere was lovely.........

In October and November I made a concerted effort to get my Middle sons "seaside patches" blanket finished ......

It worked and I was so happy to complete one large crochet project this year........

But, in need of a portable project, I started a scarf made of teeny two round grannies, on a whim........

With Christmas fast approaching I decided to make a gift, and began crocheting rows of blues and turquoise stripes.........

This turned out to be quite a time consuming project , but thankfully I got this hot water bottle cover finished for the big day.....

I decided to make a vertical fastening at the back, a bit like a shirt . It's not a method I've seen before and I was rather pleased with how it turned out..........

And then the year had turned full circle and it was time to crochet that tree decoration again.
I did leave this to the last minute...staying up till after midnight on the 23rd to get it finished.

I heard my niece had made a gingerbread house and that inspired me to try and make one too...

It's a bit wonky but gingerbread houses often are, so I hope that adds to the charm :0)

So 2013 was mostly a year of small projects, but I did manage to finish one pretty large blanket and get most of the way through another.
I'm going into the new year with two WIP's which doesn't seem bad. And anyway, sometimes it about enjoying the process not just racing to the end.

Thank you, thank you for all your super kind comments on my drawings. They really made my day. A few of you asked about the possibility of a calender or notecards....well, I'd love to make this happen....I'll update you when and if I manage to figure out how best to go about it.

I'm working on New Years Day so I'll take this opportunity to say HAPPY NEW YEAR to all you lovelies now.

Monday, 30 December 2013

Hello,
can I start this post by dedicating these pictures to you lovelies. It was a bit scary sharing my novice drawings on my blog, leaving the safe familiarity of yarn for a bit, but I didn't need to worry.
I have been so encouraged by all your generous comments about about new hobby.

I'm the first to accept they are a long way from accomplished pieces of art, but nevertheless, I like doing them and they make me smile....and surely that's a good reason to keep going.

So shall we go back to that very first drawing, done in my Eldest's old school Art book , back in February.

It was inspired by a snowy walk I took in January and it took me AGES as I really had done zero drawing for many years before this............

I remember feeling so proud of this simple drawing, despite it's flaws.You can click on any of the pictures to see them larger.

With a happy drawing in my sketch book I wanted to carry on. Next I took inspiration from a local village hall.........

It was still February and I was yearning for some warm weather to arrive so I let my imagination turn this drawing into a happy Spring scene............

I enjoyed drawing the buildings so much I decided to include some more in my third drawing.....unfortunately I struggled badly with the perspective in this drawing and I decided it wasn't good enough to share here at the time..........

Looking at it now I'm a bit more fond of it.

Then came more imaginary drawing, very loosely based on a local scene .........

This drawing had elements of imagination ( the garden ) and still life ( the items on the windowsill ).......

This is one of my favourites, it was the first time I had used a pen to add detail and I loved the effect.........

This time I created a Summer scene.

Then I had fun drawing a local landmark after a family visit.........

I even included us in the bottom right corner :0)

Inspiration for my next drawing came from the boys weekly ice skating lessons.........

This is a minds eye drawing of my childhood home, it makes me happy........

At the end of March we had more snow..........

I thought spring was never going to arrive, but it did inspire my next drawing..........

This one is of my mum in law and her neighbour chatting over the garden fence.........

then it was back to my memories , this time childhood caravan holidays........

In late April we had a short break on the east Yorkshire coast and I was inspired to draw the lovely Withernsea lighthouse...........

Again I was adding imaginary flowers for extra colour

By June the weather had finally improved and the countryside looked wonderful..........

This is another favourite.

By July we were sweltering and enjoying life outdoors, splashing in the paddling pool and admiring the flowers.........

In August we spent time at the seaside. The weather continued to be glorious and I loved people watching at the beach...........

I spent time drawing little sketches in my small sketch book, then finishing them off back at our holiday accommodation in the evening.........

The highlight of September was a wonderful visit to Yarndale.........

Then Autumn arrived and delighted me just as much as Spring and Summer.
I tried a different, more "designed" sort of drawing. It felt strange leaving large areas of the page uncoloured, but I liked the finished drawing a lot.........

And it inspired another wreath drawing, which I copied to make Christmas cards.......

I'm aware that most of you lovelies find your way here because of a love of crochet. So I'm always touched that you have been so generous with your support for this pencil and paper creativity.....it has really encouraged me to keep going.

If you want to see the original posts for these drawings just click on the" drawing" label in my side bar or HERE
There was certainly a lot of drawing here in the early part of this year. Now I feel a balance has returned and both hook and pencil are equal in my affections.
I'm looking forward to continuing with both hobbies next year.
Tomorrow it's my final review.....I do hope you will pop by....it's Crochet :0)
Jacquie x